System for identifying a vehicle during a refuelling operation

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

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Sec z

Us

Name and Address of Applicant:

Ban law Pty-Ltd T«lie ElizaLeVU CliTlo^

Strathmore Road 4«Ex«.|_t;_Ow- «. a e./a«y Lay

Caves Beach New-South Wales 2281

AUSTRALtA—

Actual Inventor(s): John Warland

Address for Service: Spruson &amp; Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia

Invention Title: System for Identifying a Vehicle During a Refuelling

Operation

ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION DETAILS

1311 Application No(s) [331 Country [32] Application Date

PO8995 AU 4 September 1997

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:5815 . -ft

SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING A VEHICLE DURING A REFUELLING OPERATION

Technical Field

The present invention relates to vehicle refuelling equipment, and in particular relates to a system for identifying a vehicle during a refuelling operation.

Background of the Invention

In fleet management of vehicles, in particular in relation to heavy industry applications such as mining, rail transport and earth moving, consumption of fuel and management thereof can be of considerable importance. Whilst tracking of fuel usage may 10 be readily determined on a pump by pump basis, tracking of usage by vehicle is a laborious manual operation requiring manual identification of each vehicle being refuelled and tallying of amounts of fuel used.

To enable an automated system to be utilised to efficiently track fuel usage of individual vehicles, there exists a need for a system which will enable automatic 15 identification of a vehicle during the refuelling operation such that fuel usage information obtained from the fuel pump can be associated with the vehicle being refuelled.

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Object of the Invention

It is an intention of at least an embodiment of the present invention to provide a system for identifying a vehicle during a refuelling operation.

Summary of the Invention

There is disclosed herein a system for identifying a vehicle during a refuelling operation, said system including:

a fuel nozzle of the automotive service station type and having an outlet tube;

a receiver having a receiver body and being adapted to receive said fuel nozzle during refuelling of said vehicle; and an electrical circuit associated with said fuel nozzle and said receiver, said lectrical circuit including identification means for identifying said vehicle;

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wherein:

[n:\l ibIIJO 1065: GJG said outlet tube of said fuel nozzle forms a fuel nozzle first electrically conductive member, a collar element is mounted on said fuel nozzle outlet tube and forms a fuel nozzle second electrically conductive member, said collar element and said outlet tube 5 being separated by an insulating material;

said receiver body forms a receiver first electrically conductive portion;

an insert is mounted on said receiver body at an inlet thereof and forms a receiver second electrically conductive portion; said insert and said receiver body being electrically connected via said identification means; and said fuel nozzle first electrically conductive member is adapted to contact said receiver first electrically conductive portion when said fuel nozzle is received by said receiver and said fuel nozzle second electrically conductive member is adapted to contact said receiver second electrically conductive portion when said fuel nozzle is received by said receiver so as to complete said electrical circuit.

Typically, said identification means is an identification chip.

Preferably said insert is isolated from said receiver body by an insulating compound, within which is disposed said identification chip.

Preferably said insert comprises a ring mounted within said inlet end of said receiver body.

Preferably said collar element includes a pin extending from a surface thereof adapted to contact said insert when said fuel nozzle is received in said receiver.

Preferably said receiver body includes a receiver adapter and a receiver fuel pipe of a fuel system of said vehicle.

Preferably said receiver adapter replaces a standard filler port of said vehicle.

Alternatively said receiver is mounted on a standard filler port of said vehicle.

In an alternative embodiment said fuel nozzle is of the type having a fuel receiver poppet valve disposed within a fuel receiver body and said receiver is of the type having a receiver body adapted to positively engage said fuel receiver body and a receiver poppet valve adapted to be unseated by engagement with said fuel nozzle poppet valve, said fuel 30 nozzle body comprising said fuel nozzle first electrically conductive member, said fuel [n:\libll]01065:GJG nozzle poppet valve comprising said fuel nozzle second electrically conductive member, said receiver body comprising said receiver first electrically conductive portion and said receiver poppet valve comprising said receiver second electrically conductive portion.

There is further disclosed herein a kit for modifying an automotive service station 5 type fuel nozzle and a fuel system of a vehicle to enable identification of said vehicle during a refuelling operation, said kit comprising:

an electrically conductive collar element adapted to be mounted on the outlet tube of said fuel nozzle with insulating material separating said collar element and said outlet tube, an electrically conductive receiver adapter adapted to be mounted on said vehicle so as to be associated with a receiver fuel pipe of said vehicle fuel system and to receive said fuel nozzle,

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an electrically conductive insert mounted on said receiver adapter, and an identification chip electrically connecting said receiver adapter and said insert, is said receiver adapter and said collar element being sized and configured such that, when said receiver adapter is mounted on said vehicle and said fuel nozzle is received by said receiver adapter, said fuel nozzle outlet tube contacts an inner surface of said receiver adapter or of said receiver fuel pipe and said collar element contacts said insert to complete an electrical circuit through said identification chip.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an electrical circuit for identifying a vehicle.

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Figure 2 is a side elevation partially cross sectioned view of a system for identifying a vehicle during a refuelling operation which incorporates the electrical circuit of Figure 1

Figure 3 is a side elevation partially cross sectioned view of a receiver of the system of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a side elevation partially cross sectioned view of a metallic insert of the receiver poppet valve of the system of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a side elevation cross sectional view showing detail “X” of Figure 2.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

A system for identifying a vehicle during a refuelling operation comprises a fuel nozzle 101, a receiver 120 adapted to receive the fuel nozzle 101 during refuelling of the vehicle, and an electrical circuit 30 which includes identification means, such as an identification chip 31, for identifying the vehicle. The electrical circuit is associated with the fuel nozzle 101 and receiver 120 such that the electrical circuit 30 is completed when 15 the fuel nozzle 101 is received by the receiver 120, thereby enabling identification of the vehicle.

A typical electrical circuit 30 is depicted in Figure 1. Here the identification chip completed when the fuel nozzle 101 is received in the receiver 120. The circuit is connected to a monitoring system 40 which recognises the identification chip 31 and

0 thereby registers the identity of the vehicle being refuelled. The monitoring system will typically receive additional inputs from the fuel pump so that the fuel usage may be correlated to the identity of the vehicle being refuelled. The circuit 30 through the fuel nozzle 101 and receiver 120 can also be utilised to prevent commencement of the refuelling operation until the fuel nozzle 101 is correctly received by the receiver 120,

5 thereby reducing the likelihood of any inadvertent fuel spills.

The circuit 30 may include a resistor 32 of known high resistance in parallel with that of the identification chip 31 so that an alternative high resistance circuit exists when the fuel nozzle 101 is not received in the receiver 120. The integrity of the fuel nozzle 101 portion of the circuit 30 can thus be assessed by passing a current through the alternate 3 0 high resistance circuit including the resistor 31 and measuring the resistance thereof. In a

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preferred embodiment the resistor 32 has a resistance of the order of 22Ω, such whilst the identification chip 31 has a resistance of the order of 1.4Ω, such that the full circuit 30 is a near short circuit in comparison to the alternate high resistance circuit such that a great majority of the current flows through the identification chip 31 when the circuit 30 is 5 complete.

Generally the fuel nozzles and receivers are modified to provide a system for identifying a vehicle during a refuelling operation. The fuel nozzle 101 is this type of nozzle which may be so modified in a dry break automatic shut off type fuel nozzle as is the subject of Australian Patent No. 586085. This type of fuel nozzle 101, as depicted in 10 Figure 2 has a fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 which is spring biased to normally seal the fuel nozzle outlet 104. To enable refuelling, such a fuel nozzle 101 is received on and positively engages the body 121 of the specially adapted receiver 120 by means of a collet 105 and associated locking mechanism 106. To open the fuel nozzle outlet 104, the fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 is unseated by means of an associated handle 107 which drives the 15 fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 toward the receiver 120. In the opening movement, the fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 engages a receiver poppet valve 122, which is spring biased to normally seal the receiver inlet 123, to thereby unseat the receiver poppet valve 122 and open the receiver inlet 123 to allow passage of fuel therethrough.

This type of fuel nozzle 101 can be suitably modified such that the fuel nozzle body

102 forms the fuel nozzle first electrically conductive member and the fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 forms the fuel nozzle second electrically conductive member. The fuel nozzle body 102 and fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 are electrically isolated from each other, except for the high resistance path through the resistor 32, if fitted. The receiver body ₂₅ 121 forms the receiver first electrically conductive portion whilst a metallic insert 124 forming part of the head of the receiver poppet valve 122 forms the receiver second

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-6electrically conductive portion. The remainder of the head of the receiver poppet valve 122 is here formed of plastics material, thereby isolating the metallic insert 124 from the receiver body 121. Alternatively, the entire receiver poppet valve 122 head could be formed of metallic material, with sealing O-ring 125 at the receiver inlet 123 isolating the 5 receiver poppet valve 122 and receiver body 121.

An identification chip 31 is embedded within the receiver poppet valve 122, preferably embedded in an insulating compound within the metallic insert 124. Two wires extending from the identification chip 31 are soldered to the metallic insert 124 and to the metallic stem 127 of the receiver poppet valve 122. The stem 127 is isolated from the io metallic insert 124. In the alternative embodiment where the entire receiver poppet valve 122 head is metallic, the stem 127 is electrically isolated from the head by an insulating compound. In another alternative embodiment, the identification chip 31 could be mounted on the receiver body 121. The stem 127 slides within a metallic bush 128 disposed in the receiver body 121, thereby providing electrical contact between the 15 identification chip 31 and the receiver body 121 via the stem 127 and bush 128.

When the fuel nozzle body 102 engages the receiver body 121 and the fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 is opened and engages the receiver poppet valve 122, the circuit 30 through the identification chip 31 is completed, enabling identification of the vehicle to which the receiver 120 is fitted.

The fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 is preferably connected to the monitoring system by means of a data wire 108 which passes through the nozzle inlet 109 and through the cavity of the fuel hose 150 attached to the fuel nozzle 101. A swivel connection 110 may be used at the junction of the fuel nozzle 101 and fuel hose 150 to reduce any torsional loads on the data wire 108. As per the first embodiment, the fuel nozzle body 102 may be connected to the ground of the monitoring system 40 through a wire embedded in the fuel hose 150 wall.

The connection between the fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 and the data wire 108 is

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detailed in Figure 5. The metallic stem 111 of the fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 slides within a metallic bush 112 to which the data wire 108 is connected. The metallic brush 112 is isolated from the fuel nozzle body 102 by an insulating sleeve 113. As per the first [n:\libll]01065:GJG embodiment a resistor 32 may bridge the fuel nozzle poppet valve 103 and fuel nozzle body 102 to enable testing of the circuit when the fuel nozzle 101 is not received on the receiver 120. As shown in Figure 5, the resistor 32 may be cast into the insulating sleeve 113 and connected at one end tot he metallic bush 112 and at the opposing end to the fuel 5 nozzle body 102.

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